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20 years

Costa Rica says it is still after Sea Shepard’s Paul Watson

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November 20th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica’s judiciary press office confirmed this week that the country still has an active international arrest warrant for fugitive eco-activist, Paul Watson.

 

Watson had recently claimed that he was no longer being sought by Costa Rica, in statements made on social networks.

 

Officials stated that Costa Rica has recently requested Watson’s extradition from the United States, but refused to elaborate further.

 

The 62-year-old captain arrived in the United States on October 28th after 15 months spent on the run at sea.

 

Watson was arrested in May last year in Frankfurt on a warrant from Costa Rica, where he is wanted on charges stemming from a high-seas confrontation over shark finning in 2002.

 

He was released on bail after paying a fine, and was ordered to appear before police twice a day. But he skipped bail on July 22, 2012 and fled Germany.

 

The following month, France-based Interpol issued an international request for his arrest.

 

Watson is wanted by Costa Rica for allegedly endangering the Costa Rican vessel, Varadero 1.

 

Mabel Oporta, who heads Sea Shepard’s recently opened Costa Rican branch, expressed her dissatisfaction with the government’s insistence to prosecute Watson.

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  • rusty jones

    Costa Rica has been bought by Japan

    • ddpalmer

      Proof?

  • expatin paradise

    Costa Rica needs to give this a rest. The charges are bogus, and the incident didn’t take place in CR waters. The alleged victims were violating the law by illegally removing shark fins at sea. Watson has done a great service to Costa Rica by protecting its waters when the government couldn’t. If Costa Rica dropped the matter, Sea Shepherd could provide an invaluable service in CR’s waters.

    • ddpalmer

      You need to go back to law school because obviously you are clueless. First, Watson’s own video shows them ramming the other boat, there you have prima facia evidence that the charges aren’t bogus. Second, even if the victims were engaged in illegal activities they still can’t be rammed with impunity. Third, since the boat was registered in Costa Rica, Costa Rica has jurisdiction.
      And if it didn’t happen in CR waters then just what service has Sea Shepherd provided?

      • expatin paradise

        I have no intention of going back to law school, thank you – I had enough of that $#1+ decades ago. You obviously aren’t aware of the charges made against Watson, which went way past the boats bumping and included charges of injury and property damage. Watson has protected CR waters in separate actions, particularly in the protected and fragile waters off Cocos island.

        • ddpalmer

          So I assume you will continue to make unfounded statements ignoring reality.
          Did Watson ram the other boat? Yes
          Was at least one of the charges for ramming the boat? Yes
          Is there prima facia evidence that Watson committed the crime of ramming the boat? Yes
          So are the charges bogus because expatin paradise says so? No
          Will expatin paradise continue to ignore 2/3rds of the holes in his claim? Yes

          • expatin paradise

            Did the boats bump? Yes! BFD!

            Were the allegations of damages supported? No!

            Has any other minor claim with no supporting evidence ever been so relentlessly pursued by the CR government? No!

            Meanwhile, the government of CR releases murderers, rapists, and other perpertrators of violent crimes from prison.

            Does any of this make sense to anyone besides ddpalmer? I certainly hope not!

          • ddpalmer

            LOL!

            Was ramming the boat illegal? Yes

            Please provide proof that similar cases haven’t ever been persued.

            Can you understand that every case is a separate situation so that the release of others is irrelevant?

            Does anybody besides expatin paradise prefer living in a fantasy land and ignoring so much of what is written? I certainly hope not!

          • expatin paradise

            Was bumping the boat illegal absent damages? I don’t think so – possibly a misdemeanor. If so, it certainly would not justify an international pursuit at considerable taxpayer expense by a government that typically turns its back to lawbreaking. The thing that brought the charge initially was the bogus allegation of physical injury. Motorists intentionally cause real damage and injury in CR daily and aren’t charged for violent crimes.

            I’m tired of responding to this ignorant blather. Perhaps you should take a real course of law. Watching “Law and Order” doesn’t make one a legal expert.

          • ddpalmer

            “I don’t think so”
            Ah so expatin doesn’t think so and thus it isn’t. Because as we all know what expatin ‘thinks’ must be the truth. Good thing there aren’t things like courts and laws to tell us what is and isn’t true.

            Well obvious aren’t a legal expert. Maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time watching fictional TV shows for your legal opinions. Then you wouldn’t believe;

            -that if someone is breaking the law you are authorized to break the law yourself to stop them

            -that if you have done good things you are allowed to break the law with impunity

            -that by promising to do good things in the future you can get charges against you dropped

  • Joseph Kool

    Watson thought he would get massive media coverage by coming out of hiding but not a single major news source is covering it. His inflated ego just took a massive hit. He thought he could drum up support and rake in donations but it’s not happening. Sea shepperds are desperate foroney right now and this was a desperate attempt attention that backfired.

  • NorthendFool

    Chinchilla was recently given some honorary name pertaining to her stand against shark finning. She is just weird. As usual all her issues turn to mush. I love the $5 land exit tax scenario. Brilliant move you all in San Jose.

  • stationone123

    Interpol should be more concerned about child pornography which is legal in more than a dozen countries.

    • ddpalmer

      Interpol is concerned with people who commit or are accused of committing crimes and have left the country where they are accused.
      Interpol doesn’t make laws or even really enforce laws. It is merely and intergovernmental organization that facilitates cooperation between the police in different countries.
      So in teh countries where child pornography is legal, despite it being detestable, Interpol has no authority to do anything about it.

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